Officer’s wife ‘would make affair claim’

Published on 20/12/2012 13:02

A POLICEMAN told his bosses that his wife was going to wrongly accuse him of having an affair with a fellow officer.

David Purves, 46, a constable with Central Scotland Police, e-mailed Detective Inspector Andrew Solomon, head of professional standards, revealing that his marriage was in 
terminal decline.

He warned that his wife Julie’s “mood swings and possible depressive state” meant she was capable of carrying out her threat.

Livingston Sheriff Court heard that the e-mail was sent more than six months before Mrs Purves alleged that he had smashed his way into the house using a hammer, putting her and their daughter in a state of fear and alarm.

Purves denies behaving in a threatening and abusive manner at the former family home in Linlithgow Bridge, West Lothian, on November 20 last year.

Giving evidence yesterday, Purves confirmed that he had told senior officers: “My wife has over many years intimated that I’ll be ‘screwed to the wall’ and that I should ‘enjoy my cell’.

“I can assure you that it’s completely groundless and I find it disturbing that she’s making allegations against me.”

The trial was adjourned until February.